Background

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) supports UN member states in implementing international standards for achieving gender equality and cooperates with governments and civil society in the development of laws, policies, programs, and services necessary to effectively implement these standards. The organization's actions are also aimed at implementing the global Development Agenda for the period up to 2030 - the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the benefit of women and girls, as well as promoting their equal participation in all aspects of life.

In 2017, the European Union began to plan a comprehensive support for public sector reform in Afghanistan. The same year, the project aimed at increasing the participation of women in economic and public life through education and empowerment. Launched in 2021, the second phase of the project represents an expansion of an ongoing Phase I cooperation programme.

Given the expertise in women’s economic empowerment, UN Women has been tasked to organize extra-curriculum activities for Afghan women-students in the form of winter/summer school trainings to enhance educational potential of Afghan women, raise their awareness about gender equality, women’s rights and leadership and provide them with practical tools, that will help them in their future professional and personal development.

Based on the preferences and suggestions of the Afghan women-students, the next winter school will be held in an offline format and designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of new cohort of Afghan women-students in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment, women’s political leadership, peacebuilding, conflict resolution, women, peace and security, enhanced employment opportunities, business planning, project management, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and personal development.

Timeframe and Location

The winter school training is expected to be held in-person according to the following schedule:

In this regard, UN Women is seeking a qualified facilitator or a group of facilitators (maximum four) with proven expertise and experience to conduct and facilitate the winter school training for Afghan Women students in Central Asia.

*The potential facilitator or group of facilitators (maximum four) can indicate at least one school and maximum all three schools that she/he or they are willing to contribute.

Depending on the COVID-19 situation in hosting countries and state regulations, In-Person event can be switched to a Virtual Event

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of UN Women Project Manager, the International Facilitator or group of Facilitators are expected to lead and facilitate the winter school training sessions in three countries of Central Asia.

Duties and Responsibilities

The International facilitator or Group of Facilitators are expected to undertake the following specific tasks:

Phase 1:  Pre-training work

• Participate in a preparatory meeting with UN Women and experts before the school training to have discussion on the training agenda, facilitation processes, roles of key participants and expected results. 
• Based on the agreed agenda develop and propose innovative training methodology, approaches, and tools to ensure maximum participation (interactive activities, practical exercises, debating sessions, energizers, games, etc.)
• Prepare content materials, presentations, as well as a pre- and post-training evaluation questionnaire

Phase 2: During the training

• Work closely with experts and trainers and facilitate the five-day school training using innovative concepts and ideas.
• Provide guidance and technical advice and support to participants during the training.
• Gather feedback and comments from participants and conduct pre- and post – training evaluation survey to evaluate learning achievements of participants.
• Any other tasks can be required – specific for training needs

Phase 3:  Post training work

• Facilitate internal debrief session, provide feedback and recommendations to UN Women team on ways forward to improve future planning processes.
• Consolidate information from the training and prepare a final report that includes a thorough evaluation of the training.

The International Facilitator or Group of Facilitators are expected to work home based with travels to 1) Almaty, Kazakhstan; 2) Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; 3) Tashkent, Uzbekistan to facilitate in-person training sessions.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• To learn more about UN Women values and competencies, please follow the link UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Minimum university degree in Social Science or other relevant field
• Additional training/ certificate on facilitation skills and techniques is an asset

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of experience in facilitating similar trainings/workshops (each Facilitator)
• Thorough knowledge of up to date interactive facilitation techniques, methods and tools and ability to apply in practice.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, experience working with diverse and multicultural groups. 
• Knowledge of the international peace and/or human rights sector will be an asset.
• Prior experience with UN agencies or other similar international organizations is desirable

Financial assessment:

The evaluation of the submitted financial proposals will be made based on the following formula:

C low / C x 300, where

C is the price of the evaluated offer; and

C low - this is the lowest price of all evaluated offers among the corresponding offers;

300 is the maximum financial point you can get.

The winner is the candidate who scores the highest score on the total score (according to the results of the technical assessment + financial assessment). The maximum possible score for the technical evaluation is 700 and 300 for the financial proposal.

Candidate selection:

The contract will be offered to the candidate with the highest score in the cumulative evaluation.

Application Process:

All documents should be sent including:

• CV/ UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment);
• Training materials from similar facilitated events/ schools
• Financial proposal of consultancy fees in USD, Please prepare separate financial proposal for travel expenses for each training location

UN Women will cover travel expenses only within UN rates and limits

Only candidates who have passed the preliminary selection will be informed and invited to the next recruitment stage.

Platform admin - jobs.undp.org only accepts one attachment, so you need to prepare all required documents, scan them as one PDF document and attach them to your online application.

* Each candidate must submit a consolidated financial proposal that includes all of the candidate's expenses required to complete the assigned tasks, including communication costs, travel expenses for the task, etc.

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)